A Path to a Different Happy Ending (Flower Husbands Empires Fic)

Chapter One: A Good Feeling

Scott stirred awake. He had just been having the strangest dream... But he couldn't remember it anymore. All that lingered was a good feeling, a feeling of happiness, and the impression of a... poppy? Odd.

He shook it off. He had a lot to do today. Yesterday, he had received an order for a lot of wool from Joel. Apparently he wanted to make a tapestry of himself. That man was so full of himself. Scott sighed, heading to the Sheep Shack.

~*~

Jimmy was confused. He had had this weird dream... All that was left was the impression of a broken rectangle, a poppy, and a good feeling. He stared at his cod statue for a while, trying to remember more. Instead of remembering more about his dream, he remembered the meeting he had planned with fWhip. They were going to get him back his Codfather Head! He wouldn't be Codboi anymore... It felt kinda wrong, though, to go behind the Cod Council's back like that... He was desperate, though. One more check at the Church of Cod, then he was going to fWhip's.

He walked to the church, admiring the scenery. He was actually quite proud of it. It wasn't just plain grass with a shovelled path. There was some coarse dirt and rooted dirt, too. And it didn't look bad. He'd done that in an attempt to convince the Council to give him back the head. Now it was time to see if they had.

He pushed open the door to the church, and, there on the altar, was the Codfather Head, in all its slimy glory. Jimmy let out a squeal of delight. It was back, it was back, itwasback!!! He was still going to go to fWhip's to tell him about it, and to maybe lend a helping hand in return for the offer to remake it. But he was so happy! It was back. He was worthy, and he'd stop getting those weird looks from his people.

He headed off to Eastvale, practically skipping. Until he remembered he could fly, of course. Scott hadn't had the Crown in ages!

He landed in the entrance to the Grimlands Forge, to see a scene of chaos. Salmon workers were running around frantically - he shied away from them, he still didn't really like them - and in the centre of it all, was fWhip. He was running his hands through his hair, which was coated in ash. His hands were not making it any better. He was also looking every which way. Jimmy couldn't help but wonder what the heck was making him and the salmon workers so stressed. He wove his way through the workers towards fWhip, who was speaking to one of the workers.

"-You what?!?"

"I-I'm sorry Count fWhip, I didn't mean to! I just... Knocked it into the forge. I didn't mean to..." The worker looked upset with herself.

fWhip sighed, the anger on his face fading. "It's fine. We made it in the first place, we can just... Remake it. No problem."

At this point, Jimmy decided to get some answers. "fWhip? What's going on?"

"Oh!" fWhip finally saw him. "Sorry, Jimmy, didn't notice you. A lot is going on. Uh, one of my workers knocked the Crown into the forge." fWhip sighed, looking slightly annoyed. "We're gonna remake it."

"Is that a good idea?" Jimmy asked.

fWhip's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well..." Jimmy paused. "Don't you remember how things went down when you first revealed it? And how Scott took it from me. And then you paid him a lot, but Joel stole it from you. And Scott and Lizzie's rules weren't exactly nice to deal with. Then Joey threatened Lizzie's people for it. And you straight-up killed Kathrine for it. It's kinda causing a lot of violence. Do you really think it should be remade?"

fWhip lifted a finger and opened his mouth to rebut what Jimmy had said, then paused. "You're right. That's... huh. No, no, we shouldn't remake it. That's very smart Jimmy. Thanks for pointing it out. That's..." He shook his head. "Anyways! You're here to remake the Codfather Head, right?'